The Avery volleyball appears to have peaked at just the right time as they swept Mitchell in junior varsity and varsity matches last Tuesday, then traveled to Highlands and defeated the higher seeded Lady Highlanders in four games.On Tuesday Avery traveled to Ledger and took care of business in upending the Lady Mountaineers. In junior varsity action the ladies fought hard in winning a closely contested three-game match by the scores of 20-25, 25-19, and 25-22, respectively.
Once the varsity took the floor, the Lady Vikings played with precision and purpose in dominating the Lady Mountaineers in three straight contest, winning by scores of 25-17, 25-21, and 25-11.
Senior Katie Ellis led the team with 15 kills while adding 11 digs. Sara Singleton registered 22 assists, with three kills, seven digs, and ten service points (three aces) from Savannah Dellinger and seven service points and a pair of digs by Lacey Barrier.
“The girls played great at Mitchell, finally!” Vikings head coach Kim Hayes exhorted. “We needed a good win before playoffs. Tuesday night was the first match we won in three games. It was a great game to end the regular season for both the varsity and for my JV team.”
On Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. the team loaded onto the bus and made the three-hour drive to Highlands (near the NC/GA border) to take on the Lady Highlanders for a 2 p.m. tipoff in the opening round of the state 1A volleyball playoffs. Despite the long commute, the Lady Vikings remained focused on the task at hand in dispatching of their opponent in four games.
Avery won the opening two games by scores of 25-19 and 26-24, respectively. Highlands rallied to capture the third game 25-15, but the Big Red closed out the match with a decisive 25-13 victory in the fourth and final contest.
“Once we got to the school we ran around to loosen up. It was a beautiful place, but the drive was not so much,” Coach Hayes explained. “We were a bit sluggish at first, which I expected. In the fourth game, we were finally with it and we killed them,” Coach Hayes said after the exciting victory.
Ellis tallied 32 kills in the match, with 15 digs from Dellinger, 27 assists from Singleton and ten digs by senior Rachel Buchanan.
Avery’s reward for the victory was a ticket for a Tuesday date with Swain County to take on the 25-1 Lady Maroon Devils. Swain swept Cherokee in three straight games to advance to the second round, their 75th consecutive win against a Smoky Mountain Conference team, and have won the Smoky Mountain Conference Tournament the past five seasons.
“They are definitely a good team. They are not Hendersonville or Polk good, but a very solid team with a couple of strong hitters,” Coach Hayes remarked. “Several number ones have been knocked out in the tournament already. IF the girls can get it in their heads that they are a good team, they can beat anybody. Swain will have the pressure on them, as they are “supposed” to win since they are the higher seed. We just need to go and play our style of ball, and we will see what happens. We’re very excited!”
Swain is paced by a six-pack of seniors Auburn Lowe, Anna Burns, Alisha Lambert, Megan Brown, Cayla Crawley, and Lauren Maennle. Avery’s second round match with the Lady Maroon Devils took place after press time this week, but check here at the Blog for scores and updates.
